life in Tudor Times
Tudor Towns
    There were only 4 million people living in Tudor England and the towns were not very big. London was the largest.
The Houses
 The tudors built many thousands of new houses. A few were grand palaces made of stone but most were smaller. They had wooden frames pinned together with wooden pegs, and the spaces were filled with clay or brick.
    Brick and stone were only used for building big country houses. Most buildings were made of wood and plaster. They would build a wooden frame and then pack it with clay or daub. Lots of houses in the town were built upwards because there was not much space. The floors used to jut out over each other. They were built on both sides of the street and made the streets gloomy because they blocked the light. The streets were narrow and crowded this made it easy for criminals to rob and steal from shops, traders and people.
    People threw their rubbish into the streets. They smelt very unpleasant.
    Tudor shops were more like open market stalls. The shopkeeper had a picture sign to show people what they sold. This was better than a written sign because lots of people could not read. 

Life  At Home
    Everything had to be done by hand so the housewife was a busy person. The people then were not as particular as we are about changing their clothes.  Washing would only be done about once a month In a big house, there might only be one washday in three months.
    People often did their washing outside in a stream. They used home made soap from fat and ashes.
  Most of the furniture was made of wood. Only important people had chairs, the rest had to sit on stools or benches. Rich people had big wooden four poster beds. Beds like this one were very precious and would be passed down to families when people died. Most people's beds were feather matresses covered with thick sheets and wool blankets. The walls had wood panelling to keep out draughts.

Food and Drink
    Most people ate well. The main part of each meal was meat. This could be beef, lamb, pork, rabbit, deer, goat or wildfowl, rich people even ate swans.
    Ordinary people cooked, ate and slept in the same room. They would cook over an open fire and would probably drink beer or cider with each meal.
    Tables were made of oak. The dishes they used were made of earthenware which was a kind of rough pottery. Food was usually put into a big bowl in the middle of the table then people helped themselves. They didn't use forks just spoons and knives. Drinking cups were made of horns which had the pointed end cut off.
    Feasts and banquets took place in the great hall of a big house. The host and important guests sat at the top of the table which was raised up on a platform. The rest of the guests sat lower down. There was loads of food and often lots left over which was given to the servants anything they didn't eat was given to beggars who waited outside. 

Education
    Schools were mainly for rich children. Most pupils were boys and very few girls were educated. Some were taught at home by a tutor.
    Pupils spent a long time at school. After three years at a nursery school they moved on to a grammar school when they were seven. They only had two holidays of about two weeks each, one at Christmas and one at Easter. For the rest of the year they only had Sundays off.
    The day began at 6 or 7 o'clock in the morning. Lunch was at 11 o'clock and afternoon lessons lasted from 1o'clock until 5 o'clock.

How people travelled
 The roads of England were very poor. Each village was supposed to repair its own roads. By a law of 1555 ,one man was chosen every year to be surveyor of the Highway. Rich people were supposed to provide the materials for road repairs and the poorer people were to work unpaid for 6 days a year. Some people left money for road repairs when they died. Nobody liked having the job of surveyor. Often the surveyor only bothered to repair those pieces of road which they travelled on.
    Roads then  did not have good surfaces, and they were not properly drained like ours deep ruts made by carts filled up with water  when it rained. Most people travelled on horse back or on foot.  For shorter journeys you might pay to have yourself  carried in a chair.
    Travelling  could be very dangerous it was not a good idea to travel alone if you could help it. Servants at the inns where  travellers stayed were sometimes in league with robbers. They looked at a travellers luggage and if they thought he was worth robbing ,they found when they were setting off and where they were heading. Then they told the robbers ,who would lie in wait and attack them taking all of their money and valuables. 

Crime and Punishment
  People who committed crimes could be put in the stocks. They always stood where lots of people would pass and they would throw things at the criminals. 
    Beggars were a big problem people were afraid of them. If they became a nuisance they were dragged through the streets being whipped.
 Most towns had a ducking chair to punish women who were "scolds". The chair was kept near a pond or river and was hung on a see-saw. The woman was tied into the chair, dipped into the water and pulled out again.
    If people thought that a woman was a witch she would be tied up in a sack and thrown into the water. If she floated it meant she was not guilty.
Other people could be burned at the stake. 
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